Failure is an unavoidable reality for lawyers — but we run from it all the same, afraid to face our imperfections, unable to forgive our errors. We need to teach new lawyers how to fail and survive.
I think Jordan that we have to look much earlier. How many kids are protected from failure at every turn by parents and grandparents. The issue you flag is way more pervasive. Over the last couple of decades we have taken most risk away from our kids and that has consequences
A bit of good news. Osgoode Law School has taken the bull by the horns on this topic. Among other things I teach in my Legal Practice Dynamics course is the inevitability of failure and, importantly, what do you do next? How do you tell a client that you missed the deadline? What do you do when you misunderstand instructions from the partner and hand her a useless piece of research? When discussing this, the PowerPoint slide the class is looking at is a quote from Nietzsche: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". I think new lawyers sometimes leave the profession because they are unprepared for how hard it is and, as a result, imposter syndrome kicks in. I tell them that they're not imposters, that but that they're relatively incompetent for the first five years. That's when we start talking about Duckworth's research on grit, and Dweck's work on growth mindset. And, to your point about the scourge of perfectionism, we talk about the fact that nothing they do in law will ever be perfect - they will never finish a trial and say "I wouldn't change a thing, everything that came out of my mouth was brilliant". They will (and should) look back three years after drafting a contract and upon re-reading it realize that they could've made it clearer, more concise. At this point, the class is looking at a PowerPoint slide with Voltaire's quote, "Perfect is the enemy of good". I think that unless we normalize and talk about how hard it is to practice law and how to deal with inevitable failures, lawyers will continue to self-select out of the profession and deal with stress in unhealthy ways.
Great piece today, Jordan. Being honest about this does not equate to lowering professional standards or ceasing to strive for the best. Rather, negating a core feature of being human (not always being correct, not always winning) helps nothing. This pathology also contributes to many professionals' reluctance to try new work methods and reinforces some of our cognitive biases. We conflate the "what" (exacting legal reasoning and analysis; effective, zealous advocacy) with the "how" (evolving work methods for knowledge workers, where iteration is OK, even normal and necessary).
Trump’s Unresolved Childhood Trauma On Full Display
---------------------
Trump’s words are not the declaration of a leader seeking justice but of a man consumed by vengeance. His impulse to “go after” those who oppose him reveals not strength, but weakness, the fear of a man who cannot tolerate truth, only submission. The wielding of power through threats and intimidation is not a sign of righteousness, but of moral decay.
---------------------
A truly honest man does not need to attack others to prove his integrity. Yet here is Trump, a weak man who has built his life on deception, labeling others as “very, very dishonest.” There is no principle in his accusation, only projection. He accuses others of the very corruption he himself embodies, as if by pointing the finger outward, he can escape the reality of his own lies.
---------------------
Violence, whether physical or verbal, only deepens the cycle of falsehood and suffering. Trump believes he can bend reality to his will through force, but truth is not something to be controlled or silenced. The more he fights to destroy those who expose him, the more he reveals his own moral emptiness.
---------------------
Ultimately, true power lies not in threats, but in living by truth, no matter the consequences. And for all of Trump’s lame ass bluster, history will judge him not by the enemies he tried to crush, but by the legacy of deceit and division he leaves behind.
That’s funny, as soon as I read your headline, I thought Kobyashi Maru! Thank you for bringing Wrath of Khan into your analysis. Man after my own heart ♥️
I think Jordan that we have to look much earlier. How many kids are protected from failure at every turn by parents and grandparents. The issue you flag is way more pervasive. Over the last couple of decades we have taken most risk away from our kids and that has consequences
A bit of good news. Osgoode Law School has taken the bull by the horns on this topic. Among other things I teach in my Legal Practice Dynamics course is the inevitability of failure and, importantly, what do you do next? How do you tell a client that you missed the deadline? What do you do when you misunderstand instructions from the partner and hand her a useless piece of research? When discussing this, the PowerPoint slide the class is looking at is a quote from Nietzsche: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". I think new lawyers sometimes leave the profession because they are unprepared for how hard it is and, as a result, imposter syndrome kicks in. I tell them that they're not imposters, that but that they're relatively incompetent for the first five years. That's when we start talking about Duckworth's research on grit, and Dweck's work on growth mindset. And, to your point about the scourge of perfectionism, we talk about the fact that nothing they do in law will ever be perfect - they will never finish a trial and say "I wouldn't change a thing, everything that came out of my mouth was brilliant". They will (and should) look back three years after drafting a contract and upon re-reading it realize that they could've made it clearer, more concise. At this point, the class is looking at a PowerPoint slide with Voltaire's quote, "Perfect is the enemy of good". I think that unless we normalize and talk about how hard it is to practice law and how to deal with inevitable failures, lawyers will continue to self-select out of the profession and deal with stress in unhealthy ways.
This type of class needs to be taught at all law schools. Keep up the great work Deborah.
Thank you Jocelyn!
Great piece today, Jordan. Being honest about this does not equate to lowering professional standards or ceasing to strive for the best. Rather, negating a core feature of being human (not always being correct, not always winning) helps nothing. This pathology also contributes to many professionals' reluctance to try new work methods and reinforces some of our cognitive biases. We conflate the "what" (exacting legal reasoning and analysis; effective, zealous advocacy) with the "how" (evolving work methods for knowledge workers, where iteration is OK, even normal and necessary).
---------------------
Trump’s Unresolved Childhood Trauma On Full Display
---------------------
Trump’s words are not the declaration of a leader seeking justice but of a man consumed by vengeance. His impulse to “go after” those who oppose him reveals not strength, but weakness, the fear of a man who cannot tolerate truth, only submission. The wielding of power through threats and intimidation is not a sign of righteousness, but of moral decay.
---------------------
A truly honest man does not need to attack others to prove his integrity. Yet here is Trump, a weak man who has built his life on deception, labeling others as “very, very dishonest.” There is no principle in his accusation, only projection. He accuses others of the very corruption he himself embodies, as if by pointing the finger outward, he can escape the reality of his own lies.
---------------------
Violence, whether physical or verbal, only deepens the cycle of falsehood and suffering. Trump believes he can bend reality to his will through force, but truth is not something to be controlled or silenced. The more he fights to destroy those who expose him, the more he reveals his own moral emptiness.
---------------------
Ultimately, true power lies not in threats, but in living by truth, no matter the consequences. And for all of Trump’s lame ass bluster, history will judge him not by the enemies he tried to crush, but by the legacy of deceit and division he leaves behind.
---------------------
https://www.mediaite.com/news/we-have-a-lot-of-law-firms-were-going-after-trump-declares-plan-to-target-law-firms-he-considers-very-very-dishonest/
---------------------
That’s funny, as soon as I read your headline, I thought Kobyashi Maru! Thank you for bringing Wrath of Khan into your analysis. Man after my own heart ♥️
Incisive analysis, sage advice, as ever.